Burned finger- anyone up?

[mummyofexcitedprincesses]

Just before bed DD has burned her finger touching a hot candlestick. I have applied cold water and a blister has come up but it is hurting her. Have given Calpol. How do I know if she needs medical attention?

call nhs direct?

but i very much doubt it for a small blister....how big??

Slightly less than a penny in size. She is tired and a drama queen at the best of times says it hurts.

it does hurt!!! done it myself,but see how she feels once asleep and when calpol kicks in

Thanks, she is calming down now. Thought our hassle free Christmas day was too good to be true!

OK, been on the phone to NHS direct and it looks like a second degree burn. DD got quite hysterical with the pain so they bypassed the 4 hour wait for a nurse and put me straight through. The nurse calmed her down for me, I had done what I was supposed to do- water, calpol etc., and it is off to A & E at 7 am when our nearest one opens. Whatever people say about the NHS, they are fab and we are so lucky.

Note to self: don't let children blow out candles. God, I feel really guilty. We are watching the Gruffalo from earlier and hopefully she will go to sleep.

It's important to keep a burn in cold/iced water for MUCH longer than seems necessary (or, indeed practical!) - always err on the side of caution. And of it still hurts when you take it out of the cold water, putting it back in will ease the pain.

Hope she's OK this morning - and if you decide to go to AandE the wait's not too long!

She seems fine today but we are going to nip down to the local cottage hospitsal when it opens at 11 to err on the side of caution. Thank Goodness it is her left hand so she can still play on the Wii and do colouring!

Milk is good for soothing burns - it takes the pain away faster, and better, than cold water does.

Sorry to harp on, but if you even suspect that the burn is going to be serious enough to need medical treatment don't put anything but water on it. Burns get infected incredibly easily and anything that's put on them has to be got off again, which is really painful.

The blister is huge now and full of liquid, but we are keeping the area clean and covered (as recommended at A & E) and are going back tomorrow to get it checked. Just hope it doesn't burst. No idea what happens to the blister, does it just shrink back?

Hi
It's probably too late for this time, but I just want to share with you the amazing powers of lavender oil. I've been using it on burns for 10 years and there really is nothing like it. Whenever I get a burn, even burns that I think 'oh no, I've really done it this time' lavender oil heals them without a trace within 24 hours. Once my partner spilled boiling water down his leg and after 2 days it was looking really bad - swollen, open, scabbing in places, the whole thing about 5" long. When he told me, we put on the lavender oil, and it healed up like a dream. (this one took longer than24 hours as it was so big and deep) Lavender of course is also an excellent anti-septic, so it will actually prevent infection too. Hope it helps

Thank you, I am planning on treating the scar with lavender oil, but didn't want to apply it to the blister as if there is a slight opening it will sting. If you had ever heard DD scream you would understand why! That is how we got through the 4 hour wait for an NHS direct nurse, the triage person heard DD screaming in the background and magically put us straight through to a nurse. I felt a bit guilty afterwards, but needs must when your child is in pain.

Ouch. Glad she's alright. Just for future reference should it happen again, if it is still hurting, it is still burning and you haven't sufficiently cooled the area. As long as it is still burning, more damage is being done. You need to hold the burn under running water (cold but not icy) for at least 20 minutes to stop it blistering. Then stick the finger into cold water (again no ice as this causes its own problems) and keep it there for as long as is comfortable. If still sore when removed from the water put it back.

I poured water from a just boiled kettle on my hand a couple of weeks ago, followed the above immediately and had not a mark. DH knocked scalding coffee on me a few years ago and as I was in the middle of a shopping centre, I couldn't do anaything about it until about 10 minutes later. In that time, the skin blistered terribly and I have some nasty scars from it.

The blister is protecting the skin and will pop eventually (the skin underneath may be a wee bit sore, but keep it clean and covered at first and it will be fine).

I don't want to contradict you, honouryourflow, and I agree that lavender oil is wonderful stuff - but not until you have cooled the burn down. Lots of cold water for a LONG time is the only thing you should put on a fresh burn. If you put oil - any sort of oil - on it before it has cooled down it will continue to burn and damage the tissue under the oil. And if it's going to need medical treatment don't put anything on it - it'll just have to be cleaned off again - which will hurt.

Cold water for a burn and NOTHING else until is is properly cooed down.